Classical Conditioning

Question 1

Classical conditioning

Answer 1

• Learning by association
• It occurs when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus
• The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same responses as the unconditioned stimulus

Question 2

Unconditioned stimulus

Answer 2

• A stimulus that produces a response without any learning taking place

Question 3

Unconditioned response

Answer 3

• A unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus

Question 4

Neutral stimulus

Answer 4

• A stimulus that doesn’t produce the target response
• It becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 5

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 5

• A stimulus that only produces the target response after it has been paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 6

Conditioned response

Answer 6

• The response produced by the CS when paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 7

Extinction

Answer 7

• When the CS and UCS have not been paired for a while and the CS ceases to elicits the CR
• When the CS and UCS haven’t been paired for a while, the CR is extinguished

Question 8

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 8

• An extinct response activated again so that the CS once again elicits the CR

Question 9

Stimulus generalisation

Answer 9

• When an individual who has acquired a conditioned response to one stimulus begins to response to similar stimuli in the same way

Question 10

Process of classical conditioning

Answer 10

• Before conditioning: UCS triggers a reflex response such as salivation, anxiety or sexual arousal. This is called the unconditional response. An unrelated NS does not produce this response
• During conditioning: The UCS and the NS are experienced contiguously, close together in time. This is called pairing. The effect of pairing is greatest when the NS occurs just before the UCS. Usually pairing has to take place many times for conditioning to occur
• After conditioning: Following pairing, the NS produces the same response as the UCS. The NS is now a conditioned stimulus and the response to it is called a conditioned response

Question 11

Strength of classical conditioning

Answer 11

• A strength of classical conditioning is that is it supported by many studies conducted on both humans and animals
• Ivan Pavlov demonstrated classical conditioning of salivation responses in his studies of dogs and another study demonstrated that a fear response could be conditioned in a human baby
• This is important because it means there is firm evidence supporting the existence of classical conditioning in humans and animal learning

Question 12

Weakness of classical conditioning

Answer 12

• A weakness of classical conditioning is that it can only explain how a limited range of behaviours can be acquired
• Classical conditioning only explains the acquisition of simple reflex responses like salivation, anxiety and sexual arousal
• However, it cannot explain for more complex chains of learned behaviour. It cannot explain how we come to fear dogs but not the maintenance of this dear over time or behaviours we can learn in order to avoid encountering dogs
• Therefore, classical conditioning is only a partial explanation for learning of behaviour.